Ultimate China Bookshelf #56: Isabel and David Crook's "Ten Mile Inn"

Revolution in a Chinese Village, published in 1959

“Through this classic study and other writings and talks, the Crooks provided a positive picture of China to the outside world at a time when Cold War simplifications were the norm.” — Delia Davin, The Guardian

“A seminal work, which has been bringing the achievements and challenges of the Chinese agrarian revolution to life for English-speaking readers since 1959.” — The Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist)

“Specialists may want to compare the nuances of "fan-shenning" (literally, "turning over") in Ten Mile Inn with the process in Long Bow, but Fanshen will suffice on the subject for most.” – Kirkus Reviews

Isabel Crook (1915-2023), née Brown, was a Canadian-British anthropologist and professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU). Born to Canadian missionaries in Chengdu, she later studied anthropology at the University of Toronto. She returned to China to study the Yi people of Sichuan and then rural families in a village outside of Chongqing.

In 1942 she married David Crook (1910-2000) a British communist who had spent time in Spain with the International Brigades and Shanghai where he had been a spy for the NKVD. Both became sympathetic to the Chinese Communist Party and accepted jobs teaching at BFSU. During the Cultural Revolution, David was imprisoned for five years; Isabel maintained that she forgave his captors while he remained a committed Marxist. 

David died in Beijing in 2000. Isabel died in Beijing on 20 August 2023 at age 107. 

The Book in 150 words: